ipl-logo

Examples Of Suicidal Depression In Catcher In The Rye

686 Words3 Pages

The book “The Catcher in the Rye” is about a teenager named holden who is depressed and says he wants to kill himself because no one likes him or no one wants to hangout with him. The reader diagnoses holden with suicidal depression because he is always depressed and wants to kill himself and talks about it all the time. The first reason that the reader diagnosed holden with suicidal depression is He tried to kill himself. One way holden has suicidal thoughts in the book states, ”Everybody was asleep or out or home for the weekend, and it was very,very quiet and depressing in the corridor. […] All of a sudden, I decided what I'd really do, I'd get the hell out of Pencey – right that same night and all. I mean not wait till Wednesday or anything. I just didn't want to hang around any more. It made me too sad and lonesome. […] Besides, I sort of needed a little vacation. My nerves were shot. They really were”. (7.58 J.B Salinger). Throughout the story holden had many …show more content…

That depressed me. I hate it if I'm eating bacon and eggs or something and somebody else is only eating toast and coffee. (15.17 J.B Salinger)”.The quote from the book shows how holden gets depressed by the littlest thing that are not even about him. In the article (“Understanding”) The author states,”unexplained aches or pains, often feel irritable or angry for no reason, or cry at the drop of a hat -- you could be depressed. Unfortunately people who get mad and snap over little things have one of the worst types of depression which could be very serious and dangerous to others”[Unknown]. The article (“Understanding”) Holden relates because Holden gets mad about everything little and gets overangured time to time in the

Show More
Related
2045 Words | 9 Pages

the Catcher in the Rye “PTSD” Essay Throughout the book The catcher in the Rye, the main character Holden, has many odd experiences pertaining to his mental state. From the different situations that Holden describes it becomes more, and more obvious that he has PTSD. Although Holden has symptoms that correlate to depression he also has symptoms that are not defined by depression. Depression can also be a symptom of PTSD.

Read More
553 Words | 3 Pages

Holden Caulfield is an extremely troubled individual with unparalleled depression. This all rooted from the slow and painful death of his younger brother, Allie Caulfield, to cancer at a young age. This has led him down a decreasing path in his life resulting in the expulsion of Holden from two boarding schools and the forming of an alcoholic addiction. After leaving his last boarding school, Pencey Prep, he went to New York where he went through a emotional rollercoaster. Overall his mental health is terrible and treatment is highly recommended with medication and therapy session's.

Read More
646 Words | 3 Pages

While in school, Holden also witnesses someone dying, a kid was being bullied and then committed suicide by jumping out a two story window. Holden heard the kids body hit the ground and witnessed him laying on the cement with blood everywhere. That also played a factor in the way he

Read More
550 Words | 3 Pages

Factors that led me to this diagnosis are Holdens constant state of depression, the loss of his brother, and him expressing both feelings of loneliness and suicidal thoughts. Numerous times throughout The Catcher in the Rye Holden displays both depressive and suicidal thoughts such as “What I really felt like though was commiting suicide. I felt like jumping out the window” (Salinger 136) and “Please. I’m lonesome as hell. No kidding.

Read More
2021 Words | 9 Pages

Additionally, another time at a diner he orders a doughnut and coffee, but he is unable to bring himself to eat the doughnut, and even says, “if you get very depressed… it’s hard as hell to swallow,” (Salinger 216). Holden recognized his depression caused by Allie’s death and being isolated in New York for three days, and because of it, he is unable to bring himself to eat. Also, his depression caused him to inexplicably pass out while at a museum (Salinger 225) and nearly vomit while walking around New York (Salinger 202). Additionally, Holden went to Mr. Antolini’s house because he needed a place to stay for the night, and while he was there, Holden said he was “feeling sort of dizzy” and had “a helluva headache all of a sudden,” (Salinger 202). This comes up after Mr. Antolini tries to talk to Holden about his future, and

Read More
1502 Words | 7 Pages

In The Catcher of the Rye, Holden barely mentions his late brother, barely opening up to others and confronting his emotions. When Allie died to Leukemia at a young age, his emotions of grief are illustrated with how he reacts to Allie’s death with Holden saying, “I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist just for the hell of it” (Sallinger, 44). With Allie’s death, Holden shows signs of grief with much aggression as he destroys his windows with his fists at 13 years old after Allie’s death. Allie’s death results in Holden forming mental illnesses of depression from loneliness as displayed when Holden sat by himself smoking cigarettes when he says how he starts talking outloud when feeling depressed.

Read More
1107 Words | 5 Pages

The Catcher in the Rye Thematic Essay Imagine living a lonesome life, full of fear and little hope of better days to come. Imagine the toll this would take on a person’s life and how they develop as a person. For Holden Caulfield, the main character of J.D Salinger’s classic The Catcher in the Rye this, is his reality. Holden is a sixteen year old troubled boy suffering through major mental issues and living a rather a depressing life for a teenager. Throughout the novel he goes through many hardships that only worsen his depression making him feel hatred towards his seemingly hellish world.

Read More
999 Words | 4 Pages

He states, "The trouble was, I just didn't want to do it. I felt more depressed than sexy, if want to know the truth" (pg 96). This one example of when he lost interest in pleasure or normal activities. Holden also shows a change in eating behavior. He states that himself; saying "I had quite a large breakfast, for me-orange juice, bacon and eggs, toast and coffee.

Read More
881 Words | 4 Pages

(Salinger, 162) The immature nature of Holden grinds down on those he imposes himself upon, making them wary of their next interaction, and cutting him off from many. Others may think that it is undiagnosed and untreated depression that is causing him to become hung up on the death of his

Read More
656 Words | 3 Pages

In Holden’s mind becoming “the catcher in the rye “means that he can still catch Allie from falling off the cliff. This is relevant to Holden’s depression because everything around him is telling him to grow up but instead he runs away from it in fear that is will pull him farther apart from his relationship with his brother Allie. Holden is on the edge of becoming an adult which creates more pressure and leads him to

Read More
783 Words | 4 Pages

According to Dr. Harold, depression occurs when a person’s brain has trouble managing stress such as divorce, loss of a valued friendship, or death of a loved one. Holdens overwhelming emotion caused him to overreact violently without knowing or feeling

Read More
728 Words | 3 Pages

I was already sort of sorry I 'd let the thing start rolling, but it was too late now” (Salinger 19). This quote goes to show that Holden is trying to be a different person. He normally would accept a night with an escort but as stated in the quote he was so depressed he couldn 't even think about his decisions. A later quote shows that he doesn 't even use his real name he uses the name “Jim Steele”.

Read More
1238 Words | 5 Pages

At the end of the novel, when Holden is finished telling his story, he says that he could probably tell us about how he got sick. He also acknowledges “the one psychoanalyst guy they have [there]” who asks if he is going to start applying himself (234). The fact that there is someone analyzing his behavior is a clear indicator that he shows signs of mental illnesses. Holden dodges any questions about his feelings of what happened to him because he does not know how to feel. The psychoanalyst also asks Holden if he is going to start applying himself in school more, but Holden does not fully answer the question.

Read More
824 Words | 4 Pages

Holden has shown occasions of uncontrollable emotion that should be looked further into when deciding whether he is simply battling his hormones, or if he is truly struggling with bipolar disorder. If he does indeed have bipolar disorder, he must take the meds prescribed to him

Read More
699 Words | 3 Pages

Holden Caulfield is one messed up dude. He has so much going on in his life and nothing at all at the same time. He dramatizes the little problems and blatantly disregards his large and prominent issues. The boy has a drinking and a smoking problem at sixteen. He has social anxiety, he's clueless about women, he's a terrible student, and he's on a wild ride on a depressive roller coaster.

Read More

More about Examples Of Suicidal Depression In Catcher In The Rye

Related Topics

Open Document